GENESIS 7:11-16 – In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.”
THEME OF THE DAY: SALVATION: OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND GOD’S. An easy thing to do when reading our Bibles is to miss important truths and principles that on the surface don’t jump out from the page and grip us. One example might be the account of Jesus and the woman at the well. The story opens in a rather simple and even matter-of-fact routine with no “earth-shattering” truth revealed – Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour (John 4:1-6). Did we notice it? The simple words “And he had to pass through Samaria”? Why did Jesus “have to go through Samaria”? Road construction? Best route to get to His destination? This wasn’t about travel plans. It was about the salvation of a burdened sinner at a well. Simple words easily missed, but if caught in our reading and meditating, show us the heart of Jesus for sinners. He “had to go to Samaria” because His mission and love “made” Him take this difficult journey. Well, another account of simple words easily missed occurs in today’s scripture. They are in the last verse – And the Lord shut him in.
Noah obeyed God in the building of the ark and in gathering the animals. All was complete. The rains began to fall. One last thing to do to ensure the safety of Noah, his family, and the animals; shut the door. And that is no small feat! The ark was about 510 ft. in length and over 50 ft. in height and Noah had no crane at his disposal! God’s Word states And the Lord shut him (Noah) in. God did what only God could do and man could not! What a wonderful illustration of a practical truth of our responsibility and God’s in our salvation as revealed by the Apostle Paul – Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
Noah “worked out his salvation” by obeying God’s commands concerning the ark, and God worked His part in Noah’s salvation by doing what Noah couldn’t – close the door of the ark. We, too, are to work out our salvation in obedience to God’s commands as God works simultaneously in us to do what only He can– make us like Jesus. And He does this each day through every situation and circumstance coming into our lives.
So, as we read our Bibles, remember every Word in the Bible is God’s Word. Be alert for those seemingly insignificant passages and phrases like, “He must go through Samaria” and “The Lord shut the door.” There is much truth to be mined in all of scripture!
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for a sure salvation that is dependent on Your faithfulness, not mine.”
QUOTE: “When God places us in the ‘ark of the Lord Jesus’, He ‘shuts the door’ and we are safe.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim